Door



Jan. 24, 1933.

F. DlTCHFlE LD DOOR Filed April 15, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 24, 1933. I F. DITCHFIELD DOOR s Sheets-Shed. 2

Filed April 15. 1929 LZi' A IIIIIIII ZIM Jan. 24, 1933. -F. DITCHFIELD DOOR Filed April 15, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3- Patented Jan. 24, 1933 FRANK n-ztroHFIELn, or CLEVELAND, oHrdAssIsNoia TO THE YOUNGSTOWN srnnn noon COMPANY, or oLEvn-nAnn,

OHIO, A, CORPORATIONOF C HIO DOOR Application filed April 15,

This invention relates to improvements in doors. I 1

In the manufacture and operation of railway car-doors of thesheetnietal type one of. the greatest difiiculties is to obta n sufficient rigidity, consistent with reasonable weight, in the edges and more particularly the vert cal edges. Many factors, such as weaving of the car bodies, lodging'ofthe load against the doors, rough methods of forcing the doors opened and closed and striking against the doors while trucking loads in and out, all tend to induce bending, distortion and twisting of the edge portions of the door.

One object of my invention is to provide an arrangement which will have greater strength along the door edges than heretofore Without increase of weight or material. Y

Another object of my invention is to provide a door of the sheet metal typewith edge reinforcing and frame elements so arranged as to eliminate openings or gaps at the corners and thereby'minimize possibility of cor rosion. f

A further object of my'invention is to so form the edge reinforcing or frame-elements, at their ends, that they provide integral caps or closures for the ends of the adjacent corrugations. i

Other objects of the invention willmore clearly appear from the description and claims here nafter following, considered in connection with the. drawings.

In the drawingsforming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevafion'al view of a double car door arrangement showing my improvementsincorporated therein. Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View upon an enlarged scale, corresponding to the line 22 of Figure 1. parts being broken away in order to better accommodate the figure on the sheet. Figure 3 is a vertical sectionallview correspond ng tothe line 3- 3 ofFigure 2; Figure 4 is an elevational'view of the blank used in forming the reinforcing edge members of the door. Figure is a perspective view of one of said reinforcing members in its completed. form. InFigures 3, 4c'and 5, parts are broken away in order to accommo 59 date the views on the sheet." Figure 6. is'a 1929., 'seriai No". 355,057.

top plan view of the member shown in Fig ure 4. Figure7 is a hor zontalsectional View the member shown in Figure 4, correspond,- ing to the line 77 thereof AndFigure 8 is a detail vertical sectional view throughone of thehorzontal edges of the door. lns'aid drawings, l0 10-denote the usual sheathing, of the side :wall of a{ car, the same having a door opening 11 formedtherein, which isdefined by vertical posts 1212 with which are "associated wood fillers 13 13. The posts 12, asshown, are in the formof Z-bars, the webs of which extend perpendicularly to the wall of the car. In the double door arrangement shown, the main door is indicated generally by the reference character A and the auxiliary door-by the reference characterllboth of said doors being of the bottom hung type, supported by roller-brackets 14 14,. which are indicatedconventionally; Any suitable operatormay-be used for forcingthe doors-to finally closed position and to initiate theopening movement, one

such form of device beingindicatedconventionally 'at-15 Each of the doors A and B- is generally of the same construction except for variations occurring atfthe forward or of the doors, Eachdoor has the main body portion thereof comprised preferably of three-sheet metal.

panels 16,17 and 18, riveted or otherwise united along "their horizontal overlapped edges, all of said panels being provided with integrahoutwardlv disposed horizontal reinforcing corrugations 1919. v

Along each verticaledge, the sheet metal of the door is formedfwith what, maybe termed a'partial corrugation, thesame being obtained by extending the sheet metal at an incline outwardly and toward." the corre sponding edge of the door,'as1nd1cated at 20,

thesheet metal then terminating in" a'flat marginal'section 21 which is offset outwardlv plane of the door and parala from the main I lel thereto; As will be clear from an inspectic-n ofFigulre 1, all of the horizontal corrugations 19 merge" at their ends with the said partial vertical edge corrugations'just described, to thereby obtain a very rigid meeting edges as hereinafter pointed out. 7

integral construction consistent with the gauge of metal used. As apparent from Figyure 5, said vertical edge corrugations are from the. edge of the door,

and to minimize any possibility of twisting about vertical axes, I employ edge reinforc--- ing members designated generally by the reference characters C, D, E- and F, those referenced andD being on the auxiliary door and those referenced E and F being on the main door. The two membersC and F are of like construction and those referenced D* and E are of similar'construction but vary in. certain details, as hereinafter described.

Referring to the reinforcing members C and F, each is of generally Z-cross section having an outer vertically extending flange 2A overlapped with and riveted or otherwise securedto the corresponding adjacent'sheet metal flange 21; a web section 25- extending inwardly, and perpendicularqto the .main

' 1 plane of thesheet metal and a'second' flange section 26 approximately in the main plane and extending outwardly of the sheet metal said flange section 26' terminating in an inturned narrower buffer or guard sectronQ'Z, as'best illustrated in Figure "2. As shown in Figure 5-, the

outer flange section 24 0f each member C.- or

F is merged or unitedwith the metal of the remaining portions by inclinedend cap sections or walls; 28-28 near the upper and lower ends of the member. These'end or cap sections 28in turn merge with small end: portions. 29--29, the latter being outwardly offset fromthe plane of the other flange section 26-, as: indicated at 30, a distance corresponding to theythickness of the sheet metal. of. the main door portion. As clear front Figures 3 and5, the end cap-sectionsQS of'the reinforcin'gmembers C andFoverl-ap the corresponding end sectionsQQ: of the partial corrugations so'that, when the reinforcing members are applied,v the endsof the: edge corrugations-of the door are completely covered or closed therebypreventing rainor otherforeign mat 'ter from entering intothe corrugations, as 'wil labeapparent.

Associated with each of the reinforcing members C and F are vertically extending bridging plates 31, each of which. is riveted or otherwise secured to themain sheet metal portion of the door inwardly of the corrugareinforced against collapse by bridging. plates 23 applied, on the inner by riveting or otherwise,

tion and to the corresponding outwardly extended flange section 26 of the reinforcing member Cor F; In this manner, the com 'plete corrugation formed by the sheet metal of the main door portion and the reinforcing member is strengthened against collapse and the reinforcing member prevented agamst turning or twisting about a vertical axis.

' Associated with each rear edge of the. main and auxiliary doors is a weather seal arrangement. Each saidarrangement comprises a sealing strip 32 secured to the door and a. cooperating sealing strip 33 secured to the corresponding door post 12. The sealing.

strip 32 has a flat flange section 34 lying against the inner faceof the bridging strip 31 and secured to the door by the same rivets which secure the strip The outermost edge of the. flange section 34 preferably abuts the abutment or guard section 21 of the reinforcing memberC or F so that when a blow or pressure is applied totheguard section,.the securing rivets will be placed under double shear to thereby minimizetendency ofthe rivets to tear out and preventing distortion of the sealing strip 32. The latter also has an: inwardly and, forwardly inclined sealing flange proper 35 adapted to cooperate with a reverted strip 33. r p i I The-reinforcing member E at the forward edge of the main door A is similar tothe reinforcing member F and is applied in. the same manner and associated with a similar bridging strip 31, theonly difference being F is formed with an outwardlyextended sealiing section 37 instead of an inwardly extending section 27.

' The reinforcing member D at the front edge of the auxiliary door B is similar to the member C except that, atthe-front edge of the flange section 126 the member D is extended perpendicularly outward, as indicated at 38, and thence forwardly and outwardly, as. inclicated at 39, to provide a weather sealing and guiding-construction cooperable with the. sealflange 36' carried by the sealing that, at itsextreme forward edgethemember ing section 39 of the member E. In this connection, it will be observed that the free edge of the guiding and sealing flange 39' is closely adjacent the web section 25.01: the member E so that there isonly slight possibility of'rain,

snow or the like being driven into the pocket 7 formed on the inner side of the flange 39'.

When the car is in motion toward the right, as viewed inFigure 2", the member E acts as a deflector which practically eliminates any possibility of foreign matter being driven into the joint, as will be apparent. When the caris traveling in the opposite direction, that is, to theleft as viewedin Figure-'2, the out- 'wardly sloping flange 39 will deflect most of the rain or other foreign matter and suiflciently to practically prevent any rain or other foreign matter passing through the port 40 is provided,

' metal forming joint where the two sections 37 and 38 meet. In the construction at the forward edge of the auxiliary door B, the usual bridging strip 31 is omitted in View of the arrangement for the nailing strip. A nailing strip supof special formation, the same having a web 41 arranged perpendicular to the plane of the door and extending inwardly therefrom, an outer flange 42 arranged parallelto the plane of the door and extending away lrom the door, the outermost portion of the flange 42- being deflected inwardly as indicated at 142 so as to provide a camming or wedge edge of the main door when the latter is moved to closed position. united to thedoor B by a sense of rivets 43 extended through the flan e 42 and flange section 126 of the member D and, in addition, is united to the. main portion of the door by diagonally disposed plate 44, the inner and outer edges 45 and 46 of which are rivetd or otherwise secured to the web 41 of the support and the main sheet metal portion of thedoor, respectively. I

A wood nailing strip 47 is secured tothe support 40 by any suitable means. Preferably the lintel and threshold of the car will be provided with suitable stops to be engaged by the post construction when the auxiliary door is in its closed position, one such bracket being indicated conventionally at 48 and having a lug or stop 49 against which the post 47 is adaptedto abut. The auxiliary door may be locked in its closed position by any suitable means such as a vertically slidable bolt indicated at 50 and which is carried by a bracket attached to the support 40, it being understood that the end of the bolt 50 enters a corresponding opening in the threshold or lintel bracket 48, as the caseinay be.

In actual practice, the edge reinforcing members C, D, E and F will e of consider ably heavier gauge than that of the sheet the main portion of the door, in order to provide the necessary strength. .Vith the construction so far describechitwill be apparent that a very rigid edge construction is formed, with a minimum number of parts, the use of interior braces for the edge corrugations bein entirely eliminated and the weather sealing or buiiing sections being formed integral with the reinforcing memhere. At the same time, the vertical edge corrugations are entirely closed in to avoid entrance of rain or the like, which would otherwise tend to produce corrosion.

In manufacturing the reinforcing edge members, a very simple and inexpensive method may be employed, as follows, reference being had particularly to Figures 4.6 and 7. An elongated rect ngular plate, of the proper gauge and dimensions is firstob taincc This plate is thenflanged along its side edges, as indicated at 515l' and pressed face for the forward Said support 40 is v with a longitudinally extending centrally disposed corrugation 52 to the opposite side of the plane of the plate. will be of generally rectangular cross section, as shown in Figure 7, and will terminate a short distance from the end edges of the plate, thereby leaving integral end Walls or cap sections 53- 53, the slope of which will correspond to the slope of the end sections22 of the partial corrugations of the main sheet metal body portions of the door. Beyond the ends of the corrugation 52,the plate will be slightly outwardly offset as indicated at 54 in thickness of the metal used in the sheet metal body portion of the door; With-the plate thus formed, the sameis slit or parted lengthwise and centrally thereof so as to'thereby simultaneously produce two like orcomplemental reinforcing members. 6 and 7, I have illustrated manufacture of the'two (J and F. As will be method will be the reinforcing difference being weather sealing obvious. In this manner, members maybe manufactured in pairs simultaneously, by very simple flanging and pressing operations, thus reducing the cost of manufacture to a minimum.

the method of reinforcing members understood, the same employed in manufacturing members D and E, the only in the flanging to provide the sections 37' and 38, as will be the reinforcing Although I have herein shownand described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out the invention, the

same is merely illustrative and I contemplate allchanges'and modifications that come'within the scope'of the claims appended hereto.

I claim: a I 1. In door construction, the combination with a'sheet metal body portion laterally ott set along one edge to provide a partial corru-' main plane, the ends of said partial corrugation terminating within theareaofthe means for reinforcing said edge including a r tion extending lengthwise of said edge and provided'adjacent its ends with cap adapted to overlap the ends of said partial corrugation.

2. In door construction, the combination with a main sheet metal body portion having an offset alongoneedge thereof and of lesser length than said edge, said offset-ex tending lengthwise of saidfedge and having integral sections 'atthe ends thereof merging with the main portion of the sheet metal; and a reinforcing bar extending along said edge and secured to said offset portion, said bar being'formed at its ends with cap Said corrugation 5:2-

igure 6, the offset correspondi'ngto the v I In Figures '4,

sections sections overl ppingsaid end portions 7 of said oflset. x 3. In door construction, the combination with a main sheet metal body portion having Cil end portions '10 an offset along one edge thereof and of lesser length than said edge, said offset extending lengthwise of said edge and having integral sections at the ends thereof merging with the main portion of the sheet metal; a reinforcing bar extending along said edge and secured to said offset portion, said bar being formed at its ends with cap sections overlapping said of said offset; and a sheet metal strip extending lengthwise of said edge and secured along its edges to the main sheet metal body portion and to said bar.

4. In car door construction, anauxiliary door for a double door arrangement, said auxiliary door comprising: A sheet metal body portion having partial corrugations, along each vertical edge, each said partial corrugation including an outwardly inclined section and a marginal section parallel to the, main plane of the sheet metal body portion; a reinforcing bar along the rearedgeand secured to the corresponding partial corrugation; a reinforcing bar secured along the forward edge of said door, said bar having an outer flange section overlapping and secured to said marginal section of the corresponding partial corrugation, web section, and a, for ardly extending flange section; a nailing strip support. of angular cross section'having one flange thereof secured to said forwardly extending flange section; and bracing means extending between and secured vto another section, of said supportand the main body portion of the sheet metal, respectively, said bar at the forward edge of the door having an integral outwardly offset weather sealing section, at the forward edge of said forwardly projecting flange. I v

v 5. In car door construction, a main door of a two-door type closure, said main door comprising a main body section ofsheet metal having partial corrugations formed therein along eachvertical edge; a reinforcing bar extendingalong and secured to the rear edge of said door, said bar having a flange section overlapping and secured'to the corresponding edge portion of the partial corrugation and an integral inwardly extended buffer flange; a reinforcing bar secured to the forward edge of said door and having a flange section overlying and securedto thecorrespending adjacent edge portion of the parti-al corrugatioma web: section extending perpendicularly inwardly therefrom, a flange section extending from the'wela section and p ar all'el to an outturned weather sealing section at .the

I forward edge of said last namedflange section; bridging; strips along each vertical edge, each secured respectively to the main sheet metal body portion inwardly of the a. artial corrugation;

an inwardly extending the main; plane of thedoor, and.

i corresponding partial corrugation and tothe v tending from said y 6. In car ,door construction, an auxiliary door for a double door arrangement, said auxiliary door comprising: portion having partial corrugations along each vertical edge and terminating short 0 A sheet metal body the top and bottom edges of the door; a reinforcing bar along the rear edge and secured to the corresponding partial corrugation; a reinforcing bar secured along the forward edge of said door, said bar having an outer flange section overlapping and secured to the corresponding adjacent portion of the partial corrugation, an inwardly extending web section, and a forwardly extending flange sec tion; a nailing strip support of angular cross section having one said forwardly extending flange section; and bracing means extending between and cured to another section of said support and the main body portion of the sheet metal, respectively, each of said reinforcing bars flange thereof secured to Y having integralcap portions at its ends overlying and closing the ends of the corresponding partial corrugations.

7 In car door of a two-door type closure, said main door comprising a main body section of sheet metal having partial corrugations formed therein along each vertical edge and terminating short of the top and bottom edges of the door; a reinforcing bar extending'along and secured to said bar having a flange section overlapping and secured'to the corresponding edge portion of the partial corrugation and an integral inwardly extended buffer flange: a reconstruction, a main door the rear edge of said door, a

inforcing bar securedto the forward edge 1 of said door and having a flange section overlying and secured to the corresponding adjacent edge portion of the partial corrugation, a web section extending inwardly therefrom, a flange section extending from the web section and parallel tothe main plane of the door, and an outturned weather sealing section at the forward edge of said last named flange section; bridging strips along each vertical edge, each secured respectively to the mainsheet metal body portion inwardly of the corresponding partial corrugation and to the reinforcing bar at the opposite side of the partial corrugation, each of said reinforcing bars having integral cap portions at its ends overlying and closing the ends of the corresponding partial corrugations.

8. As an article of manufacture, a'reinforcing edge bar, for doors, said bar having a flange extendin a web at an angle to said flange terminating a short distance inwardly of each end of said flange; a second flange substantially at tangles to said web and of approxlmatethe full length thereof,

flange to approximately the plane of the first named flange, said sections being adapted to function as caps.

9. In door construction, the combination with a main door portion comprised of sheet metal, the sheet metal of said main door portion along one edge thereof being extended first outwardly from the original plane of the sheet metal and thence parallel to but offset from said original plane and thereby forming a partial corrugation along said edge of the door, the said partial corrugation terminating, at its ends, a short distance from each of the corresponding adjacent edges of the door and the ends of said par,- tial corrugation being formed by portions of the sheet metal; of a reinforcing bar for said edge of the door, said bar having an outer flange lapped and secured to said offset portion of the partial corrugation, a web section extending inwardly to substantially the original plane of the main sheet metal portion and a flange extended outwardly from said web section, said bar having also portions at the ends of the first named flange thereof lapping with said end portions of the partial corrugation of the main door portion, whereby a complete corrugation with closed ends is formed along said edge of the door.

10. A door comprising a sheet metal main portion formed with a partial corrugation along one edge with integral end formations at the end of said partial corrugation, and a reinforcing member formed with complemental partial corrugation and end formations, the complemental portions of said member and sheet metal main portion being overlapped and secured to t-hereby provide a complete corrugation with closed ends.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 29th day of March, 1929.

FRANK DITOHFIELD. 

